After the hastily fixed Julia Louis-Dreyfus star was unveiled and CNN.com published my little item, I turned back to my other daily tasks. But then my inbox began filling up. Friends and co-workers were spreading the story around the Web. I heard back from a delighted Ana Martinez-Holler at the Walk of Fame: as it turns out, she mostly goes by Ana Martinez for professional purposes. (Just a big day for bungling hyphenated Hollywood names, I suppose.)

And other websites wanted to run the story – and my exclusive photo of the misspelled star. Some, properly, asked for permission; others (naughty, naughty!) just went ahead and reposted the pic, sometimes but not always including a photo credit. I spent half of my afternoon calling and emailing various CNN executives, trying to make sure the responsible journalists could run their stories. The less scrupulous ones, of course, already had.

By the end of the day, my BlackBerry and I both needed recharging. It rang when I was nearly home, but the screen said "Unknown Number" and I wasn't in a good place to take the call, so I let it go to voice mail. When I got home, I checked the message, and heard a familiar, animated voice:

"Hi, David! It's Julia Louis-Dreyfus calling, and I can't believe that you were the one who noticed this misspelling today. I am just blown away by this, and I'm so happy that you got the picture of it! This was just forwarded to me. I'm beside myself! And I so wish they'd left it down, wrong, because it would have been a fabulous, fabulous story like that. But it already is a good story, and thank you so much for noticing the error, and taking a photo of it. Give me a call if you can... I'd love to talk to you!"

After reeling for a minute, I called the number she'd given (a publicist), and soon I was chatting with Louis-Dreyfus. Her voice had that unmistakably enthusiastic Elaine Benes tone, almost giddy – I half-expected her to tell me "Get OUT!" (Hey, I'm just delighted she found the blog "call-worthy.") She repeated how amusing she found the whole turn of events, and how she wished they'd left the mistaken spelling for the ceremony: "I'd have taken a Sharpie and fixed it myself, right there!"

Today, after writing this up and snapping an "after" photo of the star to go with my "before" shot, it's back to my usual tasks. No Emmy-winning stars are likely to call – though I did just hear from a photo agency that wants to redistribute photo #1, so maybe there are a few seconds left in my 15 minutes. Moral of the story: watch where you're walking! You never know what might happen...

I have heard and read many times that Julia has never let her mega success go to her head and remains just an 'average person' (as much as one can be, given her fame). This is yet another story that strengthens that image. Her wanting to change it herself with a Sharpie is so very 'Elaine.'

Can you believe what poopers some people are? They write a comment telling us how stoopid the walk of fame is, or how ridiculous celebrity is. Man, what dour people! Loosen up buds, and have a little fun in life. And if stuff like this bugs you, well, take a minute, be bugged, and just move along. Julia's a doll and this guy wrote a cute article. What more do we need to know?

Julia, Congratulations on your star! Sorry could not be there for the unveiling ceremony. I have loved your work and would have enjoyed seeing you make the correction with a sharpie! Good luck on your future projects!

You must be so proud to correct such a grievious error. The world is a much better place now that a super rich star can sleep better at night. With all of the worlds problems, this story is worth engaging.

Her last name is spelled correctly-the light makes the R look like a P.
And why can't some of you people just enjoy a happy moment instead of analyzing or griping–if you "don't give a shat" then why did you feel the need to comment–evidently you gave a shat long enough to make sure you put your 2 cents in–or you needed to feel important for 5 minutes yourself.
Sometimes people need a lighthearted moment to keep all the terrible and depressing things from consuming them-so get over YOURSELF.

this reporter is a true pole smoker, I mean who gives a shat if some bimbo actors star is misprinted. There are tons of other terrible things going on and this is the best 5 mins you could come up with, way to make yourself seem important for the short moment you did. Go suk som men you
h o m o

I really hope they plan on replacing the whole star. That temporary fix is the wrong stone color, angled a bit, and the letters look crushed compared to everything else. It's a real mess. Funny, and probably appropriate for this comedic star. But it needs to be fixed for good.

Aaaarghh...I should have proofed my rant–sentence in above paragraph should have read: "We look like complete ignoramuses when WE can't even spell in our own language." Guess my rage overtook my common sense...

Kudos for finding the "typo!" As a proofreader, I am finding it more and more aggravating to see all of the bad grammar/spelling out there these days. People, we all went school and learned the basic rules of English when we were kids–didn't any of that sink in? We all want the world to look up to us and expect immigrants to our country to learn English, but how can we expect so much from others if we don't do the same–we look like complete ignoramuses when can't even spell in our own language! For example: an apostrophe only goes in a word if it's a contraction or the word is possessive–ie. the dog wagged its tail NOT the dog wagged it's tail. I saw a sign today on the way home from work that said, "Video's for Sale Open Saturday's and Sunday's. CRINGE!!! Okay, end of Grammar Rant...time to go back on the Xanax, methinks.

"The only thing worse than people giddy over 15 minutes of fame is people who try to make an actual *news item* out of it. So you caught a misspelling of a star's name and that star contacted you. Oh, and then you had to go blog about it on CNN, because CNN is quickly becoming a farce of a news source and more of an interactive, reality news game.

Just what the world needs–more people who take themselves far too seriously."

The only thing worse than people giddy over 15 minutes of fame is people who try to make an actual *news item* out of it. So you caught a misspelling of a star's name and that star contacted you. Oh, and then you had to go blog about it on CNN, because CNN is quickly becoming a farce of a news source and more of an interactive, reality news game.

Just what the world needs–more people who take themselves far too seriously.

I'd never even heard of her before. Sure, I've seen Seinfeld, and assume from the other comments that she's the female lead in the series ... but if it hadn't been for the story, I would have gone through life blissfully unaware of her real name.

The red substance appeared to be wax or something similar, left over from the substance that had protected the star before its unveiling. The workmen were in the process of cleaning the star and the area around it when I took the photo, but they hadn't finished. No blood, no ketchup.

This is a great story! As a huge Seinfeld devotee and a longtime copy editor, I got a huge kick out of reading this piece. How wonderful that Julia Louis-Dreyfus is as down to earth as she seems to be in the Seinfeld DVD extras!